Cultivate the right habits
Deep Lalvani, Founder, Sublime Life, shares his views and experiences on how Indian entrepreneurs and startups can make their work-life balance more effective and more productive. While productivity is the key to every entrepreneur’s life, in the constant need to be productive and meet daily targets, one tends to lose out on the work-life balance that is strongly advocated for employees and teams to follow. He shares the “danger signs” to look out for regarding excessive stress, how one can ensure to stay productive and not diminished by the daily grind, and how to develop and cultivate the right habits to achieve a work-life balance
"It becomes essential for us to realise that no matter how many investors or how much we have, our health remains at the centre of our life and business. It may not seem very difficult to pull long hours at work, sleepless, and even skip meals at times to make sure your work is done and business does not suffer. But failing to take care of yourself can have far-reaching effects on your business,” maintains Deep Lalvani, Founder, Sublime Life, an e-commerce platform for clean, curated and sustainable beauty. He believes one’s health has to be a significant priority, and there are things one can take into consideration daily to improve overall health-our most precious asset.
Corporate Citizen: Whether entrepreneurs or employees, in a world of stiff competition and daily targets, can stress be avoided?
Deep Lalvani
Deep Lalvani: Stephen Covey once said, “The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities”. I understand the growing demands of this modern world, but in the end, one needs to not only set career targets, but personal ones too. Every high-pressure meeting on weekdays should be balanced by some soulful de-cluttering on the weekends. When we initially started Sublime Life, there were days I was on the hustle round the clock. Music has always been a great way to unwind and continues to be so. So yes, grind it out but also dedicate time to soothe your soul.
CC: What are the “danger signs” to look out for regarding excessive stress?
Your body is your most honest friend. The moment we start overburdening ourselves, the body does respond with alarm bells. Excessive stress affects our weight, sleep patterns, skin health, scalp strength and whatnot. These are the “danger signs”. All we need to do is pay attention and act with absolute immediacy.
CC: Does health take a backseat? Why is this dangerous on multiple levels?
There are phases in life where we tend to place our health on the backburner, each one us of has faced or will face such a situation, and that’s a human trait. The important thing is to not make a habit out of it, not get addicted to the idea of gambling with our well-being for the sake of a shinier future, there will only be a tomorrow if there is a today. An acquaintance of mine recently admitted to facing immense hair thinning, and how using one of the brands from Sublime Life’s shelf really helped in solving the issue. I was intrigued and asked if he investigated why the hair thinning was occurring in the first place. With a hectic and stressful lifestyle, it was quite obvious what led to the rapid hair thinning. I advised him to not only use our offerings but also streamline his whole life schedule.
"The moment we start overburdening ourselves, the body does respond with alarm bells. Excessive stress affects our weight, sleep patterns, skin health, scalp strength and what not. These are the “danger signs”. All we need to do is pay attention and act with absolute immediacy"
CC: How can one ensure to stay productive and not diminished by the daily grind?
Management is key, time management, work management and life management, in general. We need to compartmentalise. Identify the days when striving hard at work and making compromises on other fronts is unavoidable, but at the same time recognise the moments where it isn’t necessary to put in unreasonable yards. There is a tendency for people to overwork just to satiate our inner anxiety. It’s a practice that should be avoided at all costs.
CC: How can one develop and cultivate the right habits to achieve work-life balance?
It all starts with the desire to live a more wholesome life. If one doesn’t want to make things better, we will just take halfhearted steps to achieve the end goal. One needs to first wish for things to change for them to start changing.
CC: Hobbies seem like a leisurely luxury in today’s day and age, yet they have an important role to play. Do you agree?
You are right; the word hobby seems to have found an elite connotation in the modern age. The way I look at it is, that a hobby is the most simplified form of personal time, and personal time is pivotal to personal growth. If we don’t shut the outside noise and indulge in ourselves at regular intervals, we will slowly start to feel disconnected from our inner reflections. A hobby does not need to be something high and fancy; listening to music in a quiet room could be as fulfilling a hobby as playing golf.
CC: What solutions could you offer for increasing productivity at the workspace?
It’s very simple when a work environment is bright, positive and upbeat, the productivity index will always be healthy. This “great work environment” will only exist if the leader of every chain takes ownership; essentially speaking, productivity is very much a trickle-down concept, if the leaders are energetic and visionary, the energy will rub off, but if a workplace has that much-fabled “boss” who is inflexible, unrealistic and rude, the productivity there will slowly and surely keep dropping.
CC: What is the relevance of clean eating?
The oft-repeated phrase “our body is a temple” is very true, and I’d like to add that while our body is a temple, clean eating is the way to worship this holy place. If we constantly gorge on fatty junk, not just our body but our mind too will turn toxic. I am not saying we don’t need to have those “cheat days”, but cheat days should be rare not regular.
CC: What are some of the “learnings” you have realised in your life as an entrepreneur?
Sublime Life is not just a run of the mill skincare curator-it inherits an ideology of love and kindness. When we began, we were and are pioneers, and with that came many risks, but as I converse with you today, I am proud that the ride is worth it. So, what I learnt from this journey is: Believe in your dream, pursue it and while on the journey to realising your dreams, make sure you give more dreamers the wings to fulfil their ambitions.